NON-Surgeon Reviews

^^^ What she said. Everyone should have an editor following them around and fixing their posts, making them convey the message in the right way.
Lol...when you find that editor, see if s/he can follow ME around, too.

And, to tell the truth, some of us have no problem considering our doctors to be equals who have just chosen a different career specialty than we have, in which case we have no trouble being blunt...and others--even in this day and age--still tend to defer to folks with certain initials after their names...those people would be uncomfortable speaking bluntly.

So I just suggested something a tiny bit softer...but I'm not really happy with it.

This part..."then you need to know that I will most assuredly feel more comfortable going elsewhere for the second stage" is still too ballsy for the more gentile among us.

Probably..."then it's only fair to tell you that if you weren't comfortable doing it the first time, I most likely wouldn't be willing to risk a repeat of that on a second surgery"...or something like that.
 
"This part..."then you need to know that I will most assuredly feel more comfortable going elsewhere for the second stage" is still too ballsy for the more gentile among us."

I guess I'm just a ballsy Jewish girl with initials after my name.
(I can play editor too ...)
 
Genteel, dammit!

But you can be a genteel Jew.

Be gentle (had to get that in there), I'm still farting from the hot dogs.
 
Hello! I am getting the DS done with Dr. David Kim in Dallas. Not sure if this is the same Dr. Kim you're talking about, but he is extremely well known in the area. He is actually the one who recommended I get the DS done (he performs them laparoscopic) :)
Becca

Yay delighted to see a for-real Dr. Kim patient posting! If you would also consider joining this Facebook group, Duodenal Switch Patients, I'd be very, very grateful.

These warnings about clarity regarding the type of procedure you're willing to wake up with are pertinent for EVERY DSer-in-waiting. The fretting you see about Dr. Kim in this thread comes from reports, as you have seen, of patients waking up with big surprises. This can be averted by having that conversation with him in advance and spelling out in writing in the consent just what he is or is not allowed to do once he's in there.

Some surgeons have fits about this kind of thing. My advice is to get clear in your own mind what you're willing to try to live with and then stand your ground. It is your body and you life. I reluctantly agreed to consent to an RNY as a fallback procedure only because I was dying and was such a high anesthesia risk that I truly needed SOMETHING, and the idea was that if for some reason the DS was totally impossible, the RNY was better than nothing. I ranted and raved at my surgeon that he'd by God better NOT do that to me lol, and he got the job done right :). But I signed a consent for RNY. (Dr. Peters, who has since passed away, did not do VSG or crap bands.)
 
My surgeon tried (unsuccessfully) to do only the sleeve on me. Despite my getting it in writing, he pulled it on me in pre-op, while a fumbling incompetent phlebotomist tried 3 times to start my IV. (I am a very easy poke, NEVER having been poked more than one in my LIFE) My surgeon said to me, just before the Versed, "so, you know you may wake up with just the sleeve, and you'll be fine with that?" To which I gave him the gift of silence, took a deep breath, (during which my husband stepped back, so as to not get splattered) and replied "well, I guess I'll have to deal with it. But YOU won't be seeing ME for the other half." His face went beet red, and he mumbled something. I woke up with the entire DS. And have never seen him since. He left his partner to do my hospital care and could not be reached for my discharge. I'm good with it, I don't ever want to see him again. If I have complications, I'd go to his partner now, he's got a much better reputation and manner.

I do not worry about offending medical professionals. In fact, I find that once I get them straight, I have no further problems with them. Unfortunately, women have to let our Inner Bitch out to get our point across. When men do this, they are being businesslike or assertive.

I wouldn't go to Dr. Kim. Charmer surgeons are almost worse than ones who outright lie to you, because they TRICK you. I can spot a liar, it's a little bit harder to spot a charmer whose goal is to trick me. That type of person uses half-phrases and double speak: "you will be very pleased with your weight loss surgery", "I've never seen a dissatisfied patient" (because he doesn't see them post-op), and you get the idea.

So GET IT IN WRITING, and MAKE HIM SIGN IT. Then, get ready for the shit I got in pre-op, because tricky bait-&-don't-switch surgeons are that way. You just have to be one step ahead of them and ready to recognize the double-speak. And whenever you see him, repeat "Don't forget, I'm the patient who ONLY will settle for the WHOLE DS."
 
My surgeon tried (unsuccessfully) to do only the sleeve on me. Despite my getting it in writing, he pulled it on me in pre-op, while a fumbling incompetent phlebotomist tried 3 times to start my IV. (I am a very easy poke, NEVER having been poked more than one in my LIFE) My surgeon said to me, just before the Versed, "so, you know you may wake up with just the sleeve, and you'll be fine with that?" To which I gave him the gift of silence, took a deep breath, (during which my husband stepped back, so as to not get splattered) and replied "well, I guess I'll have to deal with it. But YOU won't be seeing ME for the other half." His face went beet red, and he mumbled something. I woke up with the entire DS. And have never seen him since. He left his partner to do my hospital care and could not be reached for my discharge. I'm good with it, I don't ever want to see him again. If I have complications, I'd go to his partner now, he's got a much better reputation and manner.

I do not worry about offending medical professionals. In fact, I find that once I get them straight, I have no further problems with them. Unfortunately, women have to let our Inner Bitch out to get our point across. When men do this, they are being businesslike or assertive.

I wouldn't go to Dr. Kim. Charmer surgeons are almost worse than ones who outright lie to you, because they TRICK you. I can spot a liar, it's a little bit harder to spot a charmer whose goal is to trick me. That type of person uses half-phrases and double speak: "you will be very pleased with your weight loss surgery", "I've never seen a dissatisfied patient" (because he doesn't see them post-op), and you get the idea.

So GET IT IN WRITING, and MAKE HIM SIGN IT. Then, get ready for the shit I got in pre-op, because tricky bait-&-don't-switch surgeons are that way. You just have to be one step ahead of them and ready to recognize the double-speak. And whenever you see him, repeat "Don't forget, I'm the patient who ONLY will settle for the WHOLE DS."
My grandmother was killed by a charming doctor whom "everyone loved." Thirteen years later, I was working as a bank teller when he dashed in, went in front of all the other customers, and handed me a check. "Sorry to be in such a hurry, but this patient is on the table in the OR right now and I need to make sure this money is in MY account in case..."

I said, "In case he or she doesn't survive? My grandmother was one of your customers, so I know that getting that check deposited is a priority."

"Your grandmother was a patient of mine?"

"Patient...customer...I guess some people mix those words up, huh?"

He frowned, but left in a hurry.

Asshole.
 
My grandmother was killed by a charming doctor whom "everyone loved." Thirteen years later, I was working as a bank teller when he dashed in, went in front of all the other customers, and handed me a check. "Sorry to be in such a hurry, but this patient is on the table in the OR right now and I need to make sure this money is in MY account in case..."

I said, "In case he or she doesn't survive? My grandmother was one of your customers, so I know that getting that check deposited is a priority."

"Your grandmother was a patient of mine?"

"Patient...customer...I guess some people mix those words up, huh?"

He frowned, but left in a hurry.

Asshole.
I HOPE you didn't get in trouble, LOL.
 
I HOPE you didn't get in trouble, LOL.
Nah...it was the same bank where they were probably going to fire me for asking why I was getting paid less than the men I was training...and the answer was that the trainees were men.

I'm SURE the manager wanted to can me for that (for asking about the wage disparity)...he must have called HR...but it was 1965 and the 1964 Civil Rights Act had just passed and I didn't know it and my manager probably didn't know it, but the Legal Department and HR knew it...so I got a raise.

(And, if they had tried to fire me after that for anything that wasn't heavily documented, like acting like an asshole to that butcher, it most likely would have been considered "retaliatory" and I would have gotten rich.)
 
That's one callous surgeon. WOW. Just wow.
He needed us to know how rich he was. In those days, I think FDIC insurance covered up to, maybe, $10k per account.

He'd come into the branch and just dump a dozen passbooks (old word, look it up...lol) from several different banks, in front of the teller and say something like, "Put it in the account with the lowest balance." Real asshole.
 
I'm SURE the manager wanted to can me for that (for asking about the wage disparity)...he must have called HR...but it was 1965 and the 1964 Civil Rights Act had just passed and I didn't know it and my manager probably didn't know it, but the Legal Department and HR knew it...so I got a raise.

:cheerleaders: for Spiky Bugger.
 
Oh man, these replies make me nervous! That is INSANE that a patient and surgeon would agree on a particular surgery, then you wake up with something completely different. I went to Dr. Kim originally asking for a RNY. I had no idea the DS even existed. He saw my BMI and recommended the DS to me. He said I would lose the most weight and it would stay off. Dr. Michael Green in Fort Worth originally did my lapband (ugh) and I know he didn't care about me as a patient at all (lapband was so tight I couldn't even drink water for 3 days. He told me the ER wasn't necessary and I was probably just "swollen" and to wait it out... omg).
I will definitely be getting all conversations in writing about me consenting to the DS and ONLY the DS. I will keep you guys updated :)
Becca
 
He needed us to know how rich he was. In those days, I think FDIC insurance covered up to, maybe, $10k per account.

He'd come into the branch and just dump a dozen passbooks (old word, look it up...lol) from several different banks, in front of the teller and say something like, "Put it in the account with the lowest balance." Real asshole.

YES! I remember passbooks, they were all we had. I'll bet he was funneling money and hiding his income. In fact, any surgeon who ran in PERSONALLY to deposit a patients' check was most certainly doing just that. What a jerk.
 
Ricardo Bonnor, couldn't do a whole DS as a virgin procedure! Got sleeve only supposedly because of adhesions due to ongoing gall bladder issues.

I don't KNOW this is true, just from a post on OH. I feel sorry for this woman!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top